


Zaun's winds

by LemonadeSour



Category: League of Legends
Genre: F/M, University, Zaun
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-25
Updated: 2017-09-15
Packaged: 2018-11-17 10:12:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11273373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LemonadeSour/pseuds/LemonadeSour
Summary: Alternate universe where Janna managed to enroll the prestigious College of Techmaturgy of Zaun, her long-lasting dream.Viktor is a brilliant student who refuses to fake modesty, even if it costs him friends.Psychological story/romance





	1. Chapter 1

_tick-tick-tock_

  
_tick-tick-tock_

  
The device on the professor’s desk was clicking, but Janna was the only one present in the room. She suddenly became aware of the silence, looking up and away from her tiny task. Stretching her legs, she pushed them against the wood of the classroom seat. It creaked with difficulty. Janna was repeating the third year at Zaun’s College of Techmaturgy, and was completing side-tasks for some extra points in this weird time of the year, when most of other people had already finished with their duties. The professor wasn’t even present. Being alone here had some benefits as well - she could rest her mind from constantly feeling inferior. This was the second year she had to repeat. With nobody to help her with the studies, she was usually left to her own devices; but understanding the subjects was no easy task, especially when studying alone.

The classroom wasn't very big, but its entire left wall, save for the door, was covered in bookshelves stacked with all kinds of manuals and textbooks. One third of them were even on foreign languages. The sun was thankfully on the other side of the building, meaning there were no stinging sun rays this time, from the windows on the right classroom side looking at East.

Janna placed the pen down and lowered her head to rest it on her arm, when footsteps sounded from her left. She turned to see a young man coming into the classroom with a stack of books. He sat in one of the seats and let the books on the table with a dusty *thwump*.

He noticed she glanced at him.  
“Hello”, he addressed her a bit warily, surprising Janna. People here usually outright ignore others.  
“Hello”, she replied with a tiny smile. They both immediately stuck their heads back into each their own books in silence. Looked like that was the end of discussion.

Who is this? He has a white streak in the hair - extremely recognizable, and Janna was sure she would have known him if she had ever seen him before. Ah. He must be a younger-yearling.

She made a quiet sigh, trying to regain focus on her task. What was he doing here? What would a younger-yearling be doing here? He looked really handsome, but completely focused on that paper in front of him. *Stop it* she told herself, quitting with spying from the corner of her eye. This was only making her more nervous and the inferiority fear kicked in. Scribbling continued.

Something drew her attention again, several written paragraphs of formulas later. He was looking at her with an astonished face. Flustered, she realized her hair began floating again, and with one swift and trained movement, she picked it and pulled it down, returning a sour smile.

“You’re a magic user”, he commented, obviously intrigued.

“Yes”, Janna said with a sad smile.

“I advise caution, Zaun stretches its claws towards any inherent magic it can find, as there are very few such users here. Especially that young.”

She wanted to stop his naive lecturing, wondering how he hadn’t gotten an idea that she might already know about such things, being a magic user. But his last word drew out a reply that she didn’t even think through:

“Oh, I’m not really that young..”

  
“No? Are you repeating a year?”

He had a thick native Zaunite accent. College uniform in perfect order, he must be from one of the old families. Janna paused.

“Yes, in fact, for the second time haha...”  
“Aha”, he returned with a faint smile, nodding his head. She felt awkward, with nothing else to add. With both nodding their heads, they returned to work.

~~~

He got up, picked up his books and exited the classroom. Janna raised her head, unsure if she should say something; or if she even could. He left just as suddenly as he had arrived, but when she looked at the clock, two hours had already passed. She felt small sadness.


	2. Chapter 2

“Ten AM…”

  
Janna was sluggishly moving down one of the college of techmaturgy’s many hallways, grumpy due waking up early. She had quite a lot to travel from her one-room apartment in the south of Zaun. The sun was obscured by the clouds again, as the typical Zaunite weather took over the sky. Surprisingly, winds from the sea did not bring just clouds, but a bit colder weather as well. Janna preferred this to a sun-scorched summer asphalt and concrete, with the air filled with smog. With cold weather you at least didn’t feel as if the smog was burning your skin.

Two students passed near her in the hall. Janna wondered about their duties. They seemed like they weren’t from the same program as her. At least the college wasn’t as abandoned as it was a week ago.

Either way, she would be alone again for the tests, this time from wave theory.

Janna turned a corner towards the wooden door of classroom 361. To her surprise, that young man from last week was waiting in front of it as well!

In an instant, Janna was greatly tempted to turn on her heels and go away. He was looking down at some papers, perhaps he didn’t notice her. She felt embarrassed every time she passed near younger-yearlings, especially the ones who already saw her before. It made her feel like they judged her as a failure each time.

She realized in shock that she already went too far into the hallway to turn around now without it being painfully obvious she was avoiding him. With a greatly slowed step, Janna placed herself to the other side of the door, gripping the handle of her bag with both hands tightly. They were pale. In a half of a second, she decided whether or not to pretend she didn’t notice him and stare at her own shoes; even though he was just two meters away.

“Hi”, came her cracked and very quiet greeting.

He raised his head as if this sudden noise confused him, as if it came out of nowhere.

“Oh, hello again!”

His response was actually much more friendly sounding than his initial reaction promised.

He buried his head in the papers once more. This was enough for Janna, and she went to staring at her shoes with an internal sigh of relief.

They stood in silence for a couple of minutes. The professor appeared to be late. “Hey, what are you doing here anyway? I doubt you didn’t yet pass waves. If you don’t mind me asking”, Janna tried to start a conversation. She had no idea why, but this time it simply felt appropriate.

“I’m helping the professor in writing a research paper on the superposition phenomenon.”

“Ah.”

She didn’t know what else to say, but it was to be expected that someone like him would be on such an advanced level. “Helping the professor” huh.

“I didn’t catch your name last time”, he spoke again.

“Oh, it’s Janna”, she smiled.

“Janna”, he repeated. “I’m Viktor, nice to meet you. I’m sorry I didn’t introduce myself earlier.”

“That’s alright”, she assured him.

“So you’re doing the final exam of the subject now or?”, he asked. Oh no, a question demanding her to elaborate on how her skills are bad.

“No, I’m taking supplementary tests, I’ll go to the exam at the end of autumn.”

“Aha.”

He didn't seem judgmental. Janna knew that around half of the students here weren't, but her insecurity was whispering that everyone would look down upon her. Zaun is cruel underneath its cloak.

A few moments later, the professor arrived, calling them in to start with duties.

This time the tasks were even more awkward, as Janna was in a student seat, filling in the test, while Viktor and the professor were whispering, seated at the professor’s table. They were supposedly discussing the text for the paper and it was obvious they were trying to keep it down, believing that this would bother Janna less while she works. In reality it only irritated her.  
But there really wasn’t anything she could do about it.

She completed eight out of ten problems, not knowing how to get past half in the other two. After several attempts and checks of the other ones, she deduced that as far as she knew, she did everything correctly; she got up and gave the test to the professor. In silence, she picked up her things and went towards the door.

“Have a nice day”, she greeted the professor, who thanked in response. She almost said goodbye to the student as well, but when in the presence of a professor, she didn’t feel a student deserved as much attention. She exited not saying to Viktor anything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this idea is kind of dumb ^^;  
> Janna's new splash changed my perception of this character, and I was convinced for the largest part while reading, that the main character in Janna's colour story was actually her. So here it is, a tiny romance/psychological story set in an alternate universe. Hope you enjoy!


	3. Chapter 3

Even though she was running at full speed up the stairway, Janna’s footsteps were hardly audible. She was gasping for air, her chest burning from fright; in front of her on the fourth floor was a large mass of students, all pushing to get to the board with results of exams. She didn’t know what would be more bearable, waiting for people to move and put away seeing her results, or fighting to see them as soon as possible, going to her judgment. Both seemed like the end of the world.

The summer heat still hasn’t passed, and it immediately became very uncomfortable in the large mass. This alone forced her to decide to finish with everything as soon as possible. She managed past the first few rows of people; but no matter how much she tried to get through the last two which surrounded the board, they seemed like a living wall. Ever moving. She let out a sigh of desperation. Still, nobody made room for her.

 _Oh you thought someone would hear you and suddenly become considerate?_ , she scolded her own naivety.

Stress started burning in her lungs even more. She could feel the panic attack settling in. The last thing she needed is choking in front of other students now! Deep breath Janna, then breathe out and hold. You will not collapse, you won’t faint. The air in your lungs is enough, you don’t need more of it, trust me. Slowly breathe in agai…

“Oh, hey!”, someone called her. Noise was everywhere.

“You passed!”, Viktor was standing in the right corner behind the large portion of the mass, just by the entrance of the hall of this floor.

Confused, barely allowing herself to hope, she went towards him. Three months have passed since she last saw him and she believed she wouldn’t see him ever again. There he was, knowing even whose name to check.

Janna managed to point towards herself, and he immediately nodded: “Yes, you’re the only Janna in this year. I saw the results by accident, so I thought to tell you to spare you of that mess in front of the board when I noticed you coming.”

_Ah. He saw by accident._

“I don’t believe it”, she weakly laughed, “I can’t afford to believe.”

“You did! You had three points above the line.”

 _Well that wasn’t anything to be proud of_ , but a pass is a pass, and she felt a large burden disappearing.

“Thank you so much”, Janna replied and cringed at her overly-dramatic gratitude for a dumb list check. The other student didn’t seem to mind at all though. He smiled in response. It was obvious how relieved she felt.

“You were really stressed, weren’t you?”

Janna twitched. “What, is my face that much frightened?”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

What an embarrassment. But she knew somewhere at the back of her mind, that most people who talked to her for more than a few sentences, had a hunch at how insecure she felt. Somewhere at the very back, as she was still trying to hide it.

“Do… you want to go down? Away from this crowd?”, Viktor pointed with his thumb over his shoulder towards the staircase, quirking an eyebrow. She could barely hear him out of all the noise, but his gesture was enough. A warm sting struck her somewhere around her heart the instant he did that. He was such a pretty sight to see.

This was the most direct conversation she had with someone in a few months. The realization cracked her nervous expression, and she couldn’t help but smile. This day suddenly took a one hundred and eighty degree turn for the better, just as suddenly as the street she lived in turned up dug through this very morning. It was the last thing she expected to stand in her way to the college of techmaturgy…

“You’re thinking of something?”, Viktor was giving her an inquisitive look.

“Yes… about some construction work being done on a street where I live”, Janna waved her hand dismissing her thoughts as they were going down the stairs. He kept a steady pace of one stair behind her, she supposed to keep her at eye level. He was exactly that much shorter than her.

Janna’s inner voice spoke to her to watch her step, lest she wanted to trip and embarrass herself. Actually most of her thoughts and efforts were always focused on attempts to not embarrass herself.

“Ah, something is always being worked on, here in Zaun”, he commented mundanely. It was a phrase regularly used, a banal one since every Zaunite knew this city as a monster, chewing on itself and spitting out new crooked buildings every day.

“Hopefully they finish soon. Is there a public transport line down your street?”

“No, I catch the tram in the street at the end of mine; but I still had to get there on foot, going over all that rubble and all.”

“Mhm! Couldn’t you have… floated over it?”

This question made her stutter for a moment. He hadn’t forgotten about her magic. How did he guess she could float? Perhaps it was a natural guess, as her magic obviously lay in air. It was uncomfortable talking about it with non-magic users, but she couldn’t just brush him off now, could she? This was his fourth consecutive question though, come to think of it.

“Haha, well… I try not to rely on my abilities that much.”

“Is that so? Alright, pardon me for asking; but your hair is doing that trick again!”

Without a pause, without even breaking eye contact with Viktor, Janna swept with her arm and pulled her platinum-coloured hair down. Damned thing! The moment she looses herself in deep thought, it starts floating! Having bangs was the best decision she ever made, as they did a moderately good job at hiding her expression. She wanted to thank him for pointing out, and for not asking why she avoided using magic. But he switched the theme of the conversation; this came as an unexpected turn. Shocked, she realized she actually wished to talk to him about it. Why was he so different than other people she had met?

“My street is mostly peaceful, as I live in the Galenic sector”, he said, holding out the door for her.

 _Just as I thought, that’s the old sector where rich families live. He’s different most likely due to his background_ , she squinted.

Janna extended her hand to hold the door as well.

“Hah, it might seem strange, but I’m actually okay with living in a noisy area. I like the thunder of the storms, and the traffic reminds me a bit of it. I grew up with that sound, it calms me down…”

He raised his hand and voiced a greeting to a group that was just approaching them outside of the college building. Janna could feel her smile turning sour, but she made an effort to keep it nonetheless. There were six people in that group, two girls and four boys. Two of the guys threw out a high-five, yelling a hello. Janna eyed the two girls. One had very short blue hair and a devilish look on her face. She wore some tattered olive jacket. The other one had straight brown hair and a patch of white scar tissue on one side of her forehead. Her plaid skirt was too short for any standard. Viktor started talking to them and the blue haired girl hung up around the neck of a guy with blond hair and a million red belts. None of them wore the college uniform. Judging by their behavior, they must be students here too, but they’re not currently attending? She kept expecting the uncomfortable moment when she would have to introduce herself.

It never came.

They formed a sort of a circle turning their backs towards her, and before very long, she was standing outside of it.  
_They won’t be talking to me today_ , Janna realized. She switched a bit from foot to foot, racing to decide what to do, gripping the handle of her bag with both hands.  
Muttering a goodbye, she made two steps away from the group. None of them showed any indication of noticing. And so, as if she never even paused next to the group, Janna continued her journey home. Was it all in her head, or was she really unwelcome there? Or did they just not notice her? She knew everything began too good to be true this day. The sour smile was still on her face, two streets away, and she gladly replaced it with a frown once she realized.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter! I think this one is longer than the last two combined... as more events take place, their significance increases and there's more things Janna notices.


	4. Chapter 4

A strong bite of guilt shook Viktor from his defensive posture when he realized Janna had left. With one foot forward, he almost broke into a stride to try and catch up to her. Nothing out of that got realized, and he was left to face the snickering comments and questions of the group.

“Who’s that?”, asked Zviza, the blue-haired girl, her face still morphed into a condescending grin.

The group was staring at him as if ready to jump to mockery with the slightest opportunity.

“My… f-friend…”, he muttered, looking at her disappearing behind a corner.

“A friend? You have no friends!”, Zviza yelled with a ridiculing tone.

“Refer from speaking about your daft fantasies”, Viktor retorted sharply. The group burst into laughter, but it was unclear who they were laughing at. It did not matter. With many years spent as a victim of teases, Viktor had learned a thing or two about how to quickly and efficiently cut any insults. And most importantly, cleanly - you certainly did not want your replies to provoke the other person into starting a physical attack.

“Ouuuu”, screamed the young man with red belts, and Zviza detached from his neck.

“Whatever weirdo. You’re both weirdos. I don’t need people like you poisoning my time and space.”

“Anything else, Rade?, Viktor asked one of the guys he saluted earlier. He made sure to shoot him an ice cold stare, because this one frequently had all of his work devolve into pointless lacquer.

Being polite to them was supposed to make things "easier”.

Rade was one of the students Viktor was assigned to conduct research with. He was aware that there was a chance to run into this group today, but he had hoped he’d get lucky. Unfortunately, now he was stuck discussing the materials for the research with them.

“Ye”, Rade started. “We got assigned to throw in argon as well. The prof. gave me two books from the chemical department, he said something about them not being available anywhere else. Either drop by my house or remind me to bring them to lectures the day after tomorrow. I went over the materials already.”

“Fine. How about you bring them to class, yes?”

“Whatever.”

“Okay.”

“Make sure to remind me.”

“Sure thing.”

The entire discussion was so dry and uncomfortable, Viktor had a feeling he was being buried in sand. Zviza was staring into the distance with her arms crossed and back turned towards them, sulking. Viktor realized the god awful sweet stench was actually parfume coming off of the other girl. He couldn’t wait to leave.

He noded his head two times slightly, and the group started to awkwardly wiggle. “Later”, Rade muttered, turning his back to the other student before even finishing the sentence. Others quickly moved as well, the other girl wagging her fingers as a sign of goodbye. Zviza bluntly avoided eye contact, while others did so “by accident”.

In a matter of moments, the group was meters away from him, making as much noise as they did before. From a statue-like state, Viktor pivoted on his heel and went in Janna’s direction. She was who knows where by now; but Viktor caught himself increasing his pace until he was running uphill, towards that corner. A wide street opened in front, but all the people in it were strangers to him. He slowed to a halt. It was dusk, and although the sky was still blue, buildings got dark from the fading of daylight. Street lamps began replacing it with orange glow. An intense feeling of being lost scared him. It made no sense, why had he felt this?

The corner of the building was actually a fast food restaurant. Some kind of ethereal feeling took over him, and Viktor decided to go inside. It was the magic of the dusk. He ate in silence, pondering on the events of the day. It was already cold outside.

~~~~

Janna sighed openly and pretty loudly, but immediately afterwards started coughing from smog. She turned the handle of her bag and positioned it a bit better on her shoulder to stop it from cutting in, then looked to her left. No sign of the public transport vehicle. She rolled her eyes and started mumbling to herself. Luck has to balance itself out. If someone gains, someone else has to loose. It was irrelevant that one older woman made a step away from her, as Zaun was filled with much stranger, and certainly much more dangerous people than a half-crazy blonde wind mage struggling to become a techmaturgist. What was that woman even thinking!

Orange lights broke through the dark blue dusk, and the stop where Janna stood suddenly became filled with people.

“ ‘Xcuse me!”, she blurted out when citizens started pushing her away. The door had opened and everyone went towards it in the same instant, becoming a moving mass of bodies, threatening to trample Janna over, even though she was one of the tallest there. The realization that she had enough of this day surprised her, but she let herself to the magic. Just a little bit. Nothing grandiose. Hopefully nothing obvious either.

A tiny gust of wind brushed up her hair pulling it to her right, and the people ducked when the air went between them. Just enough for Janna to manage to squeeze between them while the rest were reacting to the wind...

She took a seat next to a window and placed her head onto the filthy glass, making herself as small as possible by pulling her bag close. At least this will be a peaceful ride home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally we get to see something from Viktor's perspective! Also, I know exactly where the story is going to go, I just need to pay attention to not mix up the order. I mean, I can always fix it, but it wouldn't be fair for some readers to actually spoil themselves whoops! Yay I can't wait to write more! What do you think so far, how's the pacing? Is it interesting? Who'd you want to hear more, Viktor or Janna? I find both of them equally exciting to write. Can't wait to reach the difference in worldviews!


	5. Chapter 5

 

“Viktor! Come explain this”, the professor waved his hand, sitting in one of the student seats with crossed legs. He lowered his glasses and looked at a different student in front of the blackboard over them. The morning sunlight was falling at him at an angle, making his bald head shine.

The student at the blackboard had a horrified expression, holding in one hand a chalk, and in the other one his notebook. The math problem on the board was only half-finished, with multiple scribbles of attempted solutions around it. He obviously did not know how to solve it, and this was the end of the world. The professor moved him back to his seat with his stare.

The noise of a chair being pushed back signaled to Janna that Viktor got up to take over. _“This will be interesting”_ , she thought as he confidently strode into her field of view.

Every step was calculated, and every movement he made was absolutely certain of itself. No pauses between equation signs. No pauses during calculations. He finished the problem within seconds, turning to the professor as if he was a soldier reporting for his next duty.

“Excellent! See how it’s done class? Why can’t you be as brisk? Bravo again Viktor, at least one person I can rely on.” The class was silent.

Viktor had a foggy idea that he was supposed to show off in front of Janna, to somehow make up for his error of ignoring her last time. As if that was a flaw, which he could counter with a virtue of academic excellence. She will surely be impressed.

“What a moron”, one of the students whispered to his seat buddy, staring at Viktor from the side. Unease was in the room, obviously signaling how he was not the favourite colleague. The professors always call him to correct the mistakes of others, finish what they did not know how to.

“He’s the professors’ bright star, and likes to show us how he’s much better than any of us. Don’t pay attention to him”, a girl next to Janna whispered to her. She thought it was a nice thing to introduce the new student to the situation, not knowing that Janna had already met him. Janna sighed. Then remembered that the girl expected a different reaction, and nodded with a sour smile, imitating disgust with that Viktor guy.

“Okay. Since I’m tired”, the professor began, and one student mumbled “you’re always tired”, to which others flashed grins. Hidden from the professor, of course.

“…Viktor will take over and show you how it’s done. There are three additional problems for today, class.” He opened an ancient book whose pages already turned brown, their edges turned fuzzy, then pushed it forward. Viktor approached a bit warily this time, to take it. The old man pointed on the pages, mumbling something. Picking it up, Viktor went back to the blackboard in total silence.

“Oh, and this time explain what you are doing. I know, but they don’t know”, the old man smiled.

“Okay… since in this next one, we have division, that means we cannot use Ranjicki’s criterium”, Viktor pointed to the problem he wrote on the blackboard. He was only met with icy cold stares from other students. _“They hate me”_ , he thought. He was not as confident as he appeared. Often he believed that his talents were a curse. He could barely interact with others, compared to how much he wished he was able to. Used to watching others laugh and organize events, Viktor buried his head more and more into his books. He loved learning, but it felt like a double-edged sword. Was it really his fault that professors always pulled him to the blackboard? Was it his fault that they lauded him by pointing out how others were worse? He’d almost cower when he received such compliments, afraid if his body language betrayed it. Whether it was good or bad, his reactions weren’t visible to others. He felt like an island, separated by fate itself. He often wondered what his life would have been if he was born different. Maybe the white streak in his hair was a sign of the touch of fate. Two or three professors were obviously already preparing to attempt to name him as their successor. A few times he even thought of faking ignorance, to decline the call to the blackboard. “I don’t know how to solve it”, it was so easy to lie. But he believed he could not bear the consequent surprise of the professor, but more importantly, the mockery and teasing from other students afterwards. The smiles behind his back. The long awaited fall of the prodigy. As his father said, one lie must always be followed by a next one, until he’d finally ruin his reputation and possibly then start from scratch in an attempt to build friendships. If anyone would be willing to give him a chance. He was indeed proud of his capabilities, there was no doubt about that; but he was at a point where he’d forfeit his pride for a friend. Or for…

Janna smiled. She smiled at him! She smiled! The ice from others around didn’t feel as cold anymore. Her reaction was all he could see. All his doubt disappeared in an instant. Gone was his intention to purposely fall to the level of others. Oblivious, his face turned into the most prideful smile Janna had ever seen. He finished the first problem without stopping, and asked, “any questions?” He was met with silence, but he continued, “if anyone ever has a question, you’re always welcome to ask me.”

“Sure sure!”, one guy answered.

“Good!”, Viktor took it in a stride. “Next problem! This one is more interesting because it’s more difficult!” A few barely audible sighs reached him. He realized he was holding his arms extended like a presenter in a circus, and he quickly retracted them. Janna smiled again. Viktor continued with vitality. “Alright! Can someone now tell me what would be the solution to this part?”, he asked the class, circling a part of the equation. Quickly glancing the professor, he saw that the man was very slowly nodding his head with approval. He glanced at Janna. She had an expression of slight confusion and unrest. She didn’t know. He almost sighed.

“Hm, can I say?”, one student raised his hand.

“Of course!”, Viktor accepted. The reply of that other young man turned out to be true, and Viktor wrote it on the blackboard. Glancing at Janna again, he saw her writing down the solution.

“And here, could someone tell me how this part could be solved?”, he asked now for the final problem. Several people now raised their hand. A few more than last time. Huh. As much they didn’t like him, they were prepared to accepting him as a leader. And then it happened. Janna raised her hand.

“Yes you! Tell us”, he pointed to her, unable to hide a smile.

“I think this part could be approximated with one divided by, open bracket, ex minus four, close bracket, to the power of four.”

“That’s correct! As you can see here, it’s due to the fact that the previous form was also to the…”

He stopped hearing his own voice. He was actually proud of her. Her hair did not float this time.

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay update! Took me some time cause, studying and obligations.  
> I wanted to share with you a bit of how my writing process works here. I generally know the chapters in advance, and what's going to happen. Then for a time I think and think to hammer out the details, and then when I start writing, I write it all typically in one go, paying attention to make it at least a certain length.
> 
> Oh boy, stuff is getting complicated! Anyone had professors like this? Tough, though...


End file.
